I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 157. The Five Girls' Surprise

More than half a month has passed since I graduated from elementary school.

On the second day of their official holiday, the six of them flew together to the province known for its tangerines and had a wonderful week of fun before returning home.

As a fellow countryman from a neighboring province, Xu Qingfan still felt that traveling to Guilin was well worth it.

Street food stalls are everywhere, and a whole table full of them would cost less than thirty yuan.

There's also the increasingly addictive snail rice noodles and fried eggs soaked in broth. The five girls went from initially disliking them to wanting more as they were about to leave.

Around five or six in the evening, take a bamboo raft down the stream. The river is like a green ribbon, the mountains are like jade hairpins, fishing boats sing in the evening, and the sunset glows. Of course, the experience would be even better if you didn't get your underwear wet.

After the trip ended and I returned to the Experimental Primary School one last time to receive my admission notice, the long and boring summer vacation officially began.

"Get up! Stop sleeping in!"

Xu Qingfan opened his eyes half-asleep, and the first thing he said after seeing that it was Xia Xiaoxiao was: "Give me back my chicken!"

"What machine? Get up and go buy groceries and cook!" Xia Xiaoxiao was stunned for two seconds, then bent down and pushed him.

Xu Qingfan yawned wearily, rubbed his eyes, and then realized that he had just been dreaming.

The dream was very chaotic. He seemed to be raising small animals in Chuxi Village or somewhere else. Then an eagle came into the mud fence and ate all his chicks one by one, like eating at a buffet.

Xu Qingfan wanted to stop it, but when he stepped forward, he found that the eagle, which had been of normal size before, had suddenly become larger than a person, and then Xia Xiaoxiao woke him up.

"What time is it?" Xu Qingfan got out of bed and asked, scratching his slightly messy hair.

"It's 11:30, hurry up and brush your teeth and wash up so we can go grocery shopping!" Xia Xiaoxiao left the bedroom after seeing him get up.

"Is there breakfast?" Xu Qingfan shouted as he changed his clothes.

"Take the leftover meat buns or not!" Xia Xiaoxiao said, glancing at the four cold meat buns on the table.

The meat buns were three for one yuan, and it was obvious that the girl bought six and they each had half of them, leaving the one she couldn't finish for him.

"I love these meat buns from this place!" After coming out of the bedroom, Xu Qingfan saw the buns on the table, opened the plastic bag without thinking, reached in, and put one in his mouth.

"Aren't you dirty? Brush your teeth first!" Xia Xiaoxiao said with a look of disgust.

Xu Qingfan chewed on a steamed bun, mumbled something indistinctly, waved his hand, and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Xia Xiaoxiao sat back down on the living room sofa and took out her phone to edit a message in their group chat with her girlfriends.

[If you are well, then it's a sunny day: The target suspect has gotten up and is currently brushing his teeth in the bathroom. He is expected to leave at 11:50 AM!]

The other four people took out their phones to reply after hearing the QQ notification sound:
Lin Wanning: Qingfan, why are you still sleeping? You're such a lazy pig! [pig head emoji]

[Wu Lingyu: The rice just went into the pot; it should be cooked around noon.]

[Xiao Ruanwen: Everything's ready, hurry up and bring Fan Ge over!]

[Zhang Yiyi: The photos are up!]

Seeing Xu Qingfan come out of the bathroom after washing up, Xia Xiaoxiao calmly put her phone away.

"Why are you dressed so nicely today? Are you going out to play?" Xu Qingfan asked, puzzled, after seeing the girl wearing a yellow and white dress that resembled the color of frangipani flowers.

"Can't I wear a skirt at home?" Xia Xiaoxiao asked, looking down and flicking her skirt.

"Let's go." Xu Qingfan put on his shoes, picked up the shopping bag, and gestured to Xia Xiaoxiao that they could leave.

The girl put her hands behind her back, strolled out the door, and walked ahead of Xu Qingfan.

"Weren't you going to buy groceries? Where are you going?" After leaving the Lotus Courtyard, Xu Qingfan looked at Xia Xiaoxiao walking in the opposite direction from Fu Peng Market and asked in confusion.

"Buy milk tea!" Xia Xiaoxiao glanced back at him, then turned her head back, a smile appearing on her previously expressionless face.

"What kind of combination is milk tea with a meat bun?" Xu Qingfan saw a trash can in front of him, stuffed the last bun into his mouth, and threw the trash bag into the recycling bin.

"Why bother with garbage sorting when you have nothing better to do?" he muttered under his breath as he followed Xia Xiaoxiao.

"Do you remember what day of the week it is today?" Xia Xiaoxiao asked Xu Qingfan curiously.

"What day of the week? Uh, it's definitely not Thursday." With the holiday so long, Xu Qingfan had lost all sense of the date. He said this after seeing the KFC in front of him.

"What do you mean it's not Thursday? Today is Thursday!"

"Crazy Thursday, V50 for you?" Xu Qingfan looked at Xia Xiaoxiao in surprise. Could it be that she also had memories of her past life?

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Xia Xiaoxiao raised her hand and gave him a flick on the forehead. "You really don't remember what day it is today?"

"What day? Didn't you already come last week?" He blinked in surprise.

Xia Xiaoxiao clenched her previously relaxed hands into fists, glared at him, and then angrily quickened her pace.

Why are you walking so fast?!

The more Xu Qingfan talked, the faster Xia Xiaoxiao walked.

"One, one, one-two-one, turn left and right, stand at attention," the girl turned back to glare at him, but Xu Qingfan had already anticipated her prediction. "At ease, turn around, one-two-one... Hey, hey, hey, I'm not saying anything more, don't hit me, don't hit me~"

"I'll let you have your way, I'll let you talk, I'll let you talk!" Xia Xiaoxiao looked angry, but the force of her fist hitting Xu Qingfan's shoulder was not as great as that of the foot massage technicians.

However, he still had to save face, so he cried out in pain and begged for mercy, and Xia Xiaoxiao's anger quickly subsided.

The two resumed their journey and soon arrived near Licheng Middle School.

"Weren't you going to buy milk tea? What are you doing here?" Seeing Xia Xiaoxiao walking towards the residential building, Xu Qingfan couldn't help but ask again.

This time, however, the girl did not reply to him and continued walking without looking back.

"This isn't the place. Huh? Why does this cat look so much like my little brother?" Xu Qingfan picked up the big white cat that was sunbathing at the entrance of the yard. The white cat responded with "meow meow meow~" after hearing his voice.

"Wow, what brings you to Zhang Yi's house?" He held the big cat like he was holding a child and looked at Xia Xiaoxiao with a puzzled expression.

The girl raised her head, gesturing for Xu Qingfan to open the door and come in.

Xu Qingfan held the cat in one arm and used the other to open the door. Sure enough, the iron gate to the yard was unlocked, and it opened easily after he reached in.

"What prank are you playing now?" Xu Qingfan gave Xia Xiaoxiao a reproachful look and walked into the courtyard.

"Lin Wanning, I see you at the window, aren't you coming out!" He originally wanted to provoke the person inside, but Lin Wanning didn't fall for it, or perhaps there was no one inside at all.

He glanced back at Xia Xiaoxiao again, but she just smiled and didn't say anything, instead raising her head to signal him to keep walking.

"Is anyone home?" Xu Qingfan walked to the door and knocked with his free hand. The iron door opened slightly with a push.

"Hmm?" He reached out and pushed the door open completely, the next second.

Happy birthday, Brother Fan!

Happy birthday, Qingfan!

Happy birthday, brother!

Countless fireworks rained down from the sky, and the four girls inside the house offered their blessings in unison.

Before Xu Qingfan could even speak, Lin Wanning's big white dog excitedly pounced on him, causing Xu Qingfan to lose his balance and fall to the ground.

"Hahahaha~"

"Little White, don't cause trouble!" Lin Wanning walked over with a grin, led his dog back, and patted it twice on the head as punishment.

Xia Xiaoxiao walked up to Xu Qingfan, stretched out her hand, and looked down at him, "You can't even remember your own birthday, how stupid! Happy birthday, Xu Qingfan!"

Xu Qingfan grabbed Xia Xiaoxiao's hand and used it to stand up again. "Haha, really? I used to celebrate my birthday while I was in school. It's been such a long holiday, I almost forgot." He laughed and scratched the back of his head.

Wu Lingyu wiped her hands on her apron and came over to help Xu Qingfan remove the ribbons stuck in his hair. Seeing this, the other girls joined in. "Qingfan, you're so dense! You remember everyone else's birthday, but you can't remember your own!"

Xu Qingfan really wanted to say that he only remembered it because he couldn't stand all of you whiny people. He hardly ever celebrated his birthday in his past life, and he only realized it when Alipay reminded him. "Oh, so today is my birthday!"

"Wash your hands and eat first. The five of us spent the whole morning making this. Even if it tastes terrible, you still have to say it's delicious, Brother Fan!" Xiao Ruanwen said with a smile.

It turned out that the five girls had planned to give Xu Qingfan a surprise on the 29th. Wu Lingyu, who was in Gangcheng, also secretly returned. The five of them got up early in the morning and went to the market together to buy ingredients and cook.

Around 11:30, Xia Xiaoxiao went home again to wake Xu Qingfan up.

The two-story detached residential building in front of them was bought by Zhang Chunxue specifically for Zhang Yiyi's lunch break during junior high school. It was located just over 20 meters away from Licheng Middle School. Since they usually lived in their home in Biguiyuan, this place naturally became their secret base.

After Xu Qingfan washed his hands, the girls pressed him down on a stool and didn't let him do any work, just wait for the food to be served.

"These shredded potatoes must have been made by Wu Lingyu. And this dark, murky braised pork, you didn't make it, did you?" Xu Qingfan pointed at a plate of braised pork that clearly had too much dark soy sauce and looked at Xia Xiaoxiao.

Xia Xiaoxiao was annoyed, but after glancing at the plate of stir-fried scrambled eggs with chives next to her, which wasn't much better, the girl chose to mute herself.

"Hey~ Brother Qingfan, that was made by me and Yiyi, and Xiaoxiao made the plate next to it!" Lin Wanning shyly covered her face with her hands, but her fingers were spread wide open, and she was observing Xu Qingfan without blinking.

"Hehe~ I made the boiled prawns for Brother Fan, and isn't this carrot flower pretty?" Xiao Ruanwen said, pointing to the beautifully plated boiled prawns.

"Dinner's ready! When it comes to cooking, the most important thing is that the food tastes good. What should we eat first?" Xu Qingfan picked up his chopsticks and held them in mid-air, looking hesitant and unsure of what to eat.

The five girls looked at him expectantly, hoping that Xu Qingfan would eat the dishes they had made first.

"Let's have some strawberries to cleanse our palates!" To everyone's surprise, he changed the subject and picked up a strawberry from the fruit plate with his chopsticks.

"Brother Fan, how could you do this!"

"Brother Qingfan is playing tricks on us!"

Without saying a word, Xia Xiaoxiao got up and went into the kitchen. When she came out, she had a large stainless steel bowl in her hand, and then she slammed it down in front of him.

None of the five understood what Xia Xiaoxiao was doing. Then they saw her use her chopsticks to put the plate of scrambled eggs with chives that she had made into her bowl.

The four girls' eyes lit up, and they all followed suit and joined in. Before long, the stainless steel bowls in front of them piled up into a small mountain.

"Um, actually..." Xu Qingfan really wanted to say that he had just eaten four meat buns and wasn't very hungry, but after seeing the gazes cast at him by the five women, he shut his mouth.

He simply covered the rice in the ceramic bowl with the stainless steel bowl and started eating.

"Not bad, delicious!" Xu Qingfan praised, giving a thumbs up after trying a little of everything.

"Hey, Fan-ge, eat more!"

"Brother Qingfan, you have to finish your food!"

"No. What am I supposed to eat after I finish Xiaobai?" Xu Qingfan swallowed hard and struggled to answer.
"Little White is eating dog food!"

"Hahaha~"

The "finished food" part was just a joke, of course. Little White soon got to eat its own leftover feast, with the lighter shrimp heads and fish meat also ending up in its little brother's bowl.

Two small animals were eating, five girls were diligently cleaning the table, washing dishes, and taking out the trash, while Xu Qingfan was comfortably sitting on the sofa drinking tea and watching TV.

For a fleeting moment, an unrealistic thought inexplicably surfaced in his mind: [If only the future could be like this.]
After cleaning up, the five of them returned to the living room. Zhang Yiyi found an eye mask in the room and helped Xu Qingfan put it on. They also plugged his ears with earplugs so he couldn't hear a sound.

"No, what do you want?" No one answered him, or perhaps he didn't hear them.

Not long after, the earplugs were removed from behind, and then the intro to the birthday song started playing in the room.

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday!

He took off his blindfold, and the five of them were squatting in front of the coffee table. On the table was a huge 10-inch cake with "Happy Birthday Xu Qingfan" written on it in cute lettering. Above the lettering was a cartoon image of him drawn with jam, and twelve lit candles were stuck in it.

The TV was playing a video clip of them buying groceries and making a cake that morning, and the girls were clapping and singing Happy Birthday.

At that moment, Xu Qingfan was truly moved.

"Thank you," he said.

【Happy birthday to you!】

Happy 12th birthday to Xu Qingfan!!!

The crisp voices and healing smiles surrounded him. Amidst their laughter, Xu Qingfan closed his eyes and prayed: "Meeting them is already a blessing; I hope our friendship will last forever."
Three seconds later, he opened his eyes and blew out all the candles.

"Great!!!"

Amidst applause and cheers, he picked up a plastic knife, cut the cake, and distributed it to everyone.

Six people sat in a row on stools, watching a video recording playing on the television.

"Someone actually forgot their own birthday. I'm not saying who it is!"

The five girls instinctively covered their mouths with their index fingers in front of the camera, and the screen went black the next second.

Then a message appeared on the television screen:
This video is dedicated to
In remembrance of our primary school days,
Those were carefree and happy times.

The intro to the song "Ningxia" played from the speakers, and images that only existed in vague memories were projected onto the screen.

From the time they started at Sunshine Kindergarten, there were times when Lin Wanning would grab Xu Qingfan's hand and not let him go home crying, and times when Xia Xiaoxiao would throw a tantrum at him with her signature glare.
For every photo, Xu Qingfan can recall a past event.

The six of them watched the scene on the TV screen in silence: Xu Qingfan reading his apology on stage in first grade, their hilarious daily autograph session in the cafeteria in second grade, and Xu Qingfan carrying Xia Xiaoxiao, who had fallen, on his back on the track during the sports meet.
It was like sitting in Doraemon's time machine, with countless memories flooding into their minds, all the way up to the recent trip to Guilin, where the five girls secretly posed for a photo behind Xu Qingfan, making a peace sign.

At the end of the video.

Our youth
To be continued.

After watching, all five girls had tears in their eyes, and Xu Qingfan was also deeply moved.

After a short while, Lin Wanning bent down and took out the birthday gift they had carefully prepared from the coffee table drawer.

"Happy birthday, Qingfan! We made this together!"

Happy birthday, Brother Fan!

"Happy brother!"

"hapiness!"

Xu Qingfan reached out and took the yellow paper book. The cover had the words "Time Album" written in black pen, and there were photos of the six of them pasted on it.

"No wonder you've been cutting up yellow paper for the past few weeks!" Xu Qingfan suddenly realized that the girls had planned to give him a surprise.

"Whee!"

He placed the photo album on his lap and flipped through the pages. The first page showed five girls secretly standing behind him during their trip to Guilin, making peace signs and mouthing "Happy Birthday Xu Qingfan."

Then time gradually reversed, eventually returning to the starting point where the six people first met.
"Hehe~ Brother Qingfan, do you like it?"

"Yeah, I like it very much!"

"How much do you like it?"

“I like it very much!”

Could I like it even more?

"Then I really, really, really like it!"

"."

(End of this chapter)